Biden’s Regulatory Big Bang: A Parting Gift Trump Is Set To Return

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Just as the incoming Trump administration promised to repeal “foolish” and “radical” Biden executive actions—and issue so many executive orders on day one “your head will spin”—President Biden delivered his parting Federal Register over the weekend. Pre-dated for Tuesday the 21st, it serves as a final display of his regulatory ambitions.

At 872 pages, Biden’s January 21 Federal Register tied a final big bow on an aggressive midnight-rule push. As the table below illustrates, Biden has issued 243 rules across the 7,641 pages published in the Federal Register during these fleeting first weeks of 2025 before his departure.

Of course, Trump has vowed to freeze Biden’s regulatory pipeline as one of his administration’s first actions after his inauguration. Other components of Trump’s wide-ranging blitz will comprise a “shock to the system” targeting issues ranging from DEI mandates and immigration to opening federal lands for resource extraction. From January 22 onward, the Federal Register will reflect a renewed deregulatory agenda.

Trump’s team is also poised to overturn a number of Biden’s 2024 actions along with the 2025 midnight ones. Many regulations are eligible for disapproval under the Congressional Review Act (CRA), which allows the 119th Congress to rescind regulations finalized in the past 60 legislative days of the 118th.

Biden’s Regulatory Record: 2024 And Beyond

Biden’s final full year in office, 2024, set a blistering pace. His Federal Register page count of 107,262 pages is the highest ever recorded, surpassed only by Obama’s pre-Trump regulatory surge. There were 3,248 rules and regulations contained therein. Biden’s historic expansion underscores the need for Trump to reinstate his deregulatory agenda immediately. Key priorities would be to immediately implement his proposed “one-in, ten-out” policy while scrapping Biden’s revision of the Office of Management and Budget’s Circular A-4, which undermined regulatory cost-benefit analysis by turning it into something more akin to cheerleading for progressive policies.

Not to be forgotten is to force compliance with the regulatory oversight laws already on the books that are ignored. This is essential. Along with getting our head spun by the administration, Congress needs to do the same, and support the rollback efforts by enacting legislative reinforcements paralleling Trump’s streamlining initiatives.

Tackling Regulatory “Dark Matter”

Trump and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) must also focus on the “regulatory dark matter” that extends beyond formal rules. This includes guidance documents and policy statements, often used by Biden to shape policy without the force of law. While these materials are supposed to be non-binding, agencies increasingly rely on them, despite their being issued in myriad formats difficult for affected parties to track.

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